First Injury + Chicken and Dumplings

Good evening, everyone!  It's Wednesday already!  This week is flying by, probably because of the day off on Monday.  I've got a recipe to share with you today, as well as tell you about a little set back in my training.

Today's Training
Yesterday was Treadmill Tuesday, and I got in a 40 minute run on the treadmill.  I felt great during my run and was really excited about how much progress I'm making in my running.

Then, my heel started hurting when I got home.

It was hurting after my 11.5 miler on Sunday, but it felt fine during the day on Monday and Tuesday. After last night's run, though, it was not happy at ALL!

I wore some cushioned shoes today to teach and tried to sit as much as possible, but it just felt so painful still.  I asked some of my more athletic students if they'd experienced this before, and one of the told me that it happens to her mom.  She also told me its called plantar fasciitis and that her mom usually rolls a golf ball under her heel and ices it.

My recovery tools

I used those at-home remedies and it feels much better.  Unfortunately, it seems that this may flare up from time to time.  It also seems that running and standing on hard surfaces makes it happen.  Sounds like my exercise routine and my life during teaching.

Needless to say, I'm sidelined for a few days to try and heal this heel (hehe).  I do plan on a strength workout or two for the rest of the week, but I think my running is going to have to hold off (or I'll have to try a trail or run on the beach for softer surfaces).  I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Diet Tip of the Day
Enough about my foot!  Time to share a yummy crock pot recipe with y'all!  As a part of Julie's Crock Pot Challenge, I'm trying to use my crock pot more.  Look for more crock pot recipes in the near future, as well :)

I'm a big fan of Southern cooking, and chicken and dumplings is one of my favorites.  I found this great website called Crockin' Girls, which has a great recipe for chicken and dumplings.

Here's the recipe they wrote and how I modified it:

Find the recipe here, but here are the modifications I made:

• I actually diced a whole onion and put the whole onion in the crock pot.
• I used two handfuls of baby carrots, chopped instead of 1 cup of carrots.
• I chopped two stalks of celery instead of 1 cup.

This was very easy (pretty much a "set it and forget it" meal), and very tasty!  Perfect for this "chilly" Florida day (ok, it was about 60 degrees outside, but that's cold for around here!).  There was plenty of food, so we invited one of Joe's friends over to eat with us.  We all really liked it, so I think this will become a regular meal for our household!

Next crock pot recipe to try: Beef Burgundy, also found on Crockin' Girls.

Question of the Day: Any experience with plantar fasciitis?  Any great Crock Pot recipes I need to try?
Suggestions/ideas in each of those areas would be much appreciated!